How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?
Last Updated: 03.07.2025 04:04
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Belmont Stakes 2025: Win, place, show, exacta, trifecta and superfecta picks - SportsLine
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.
Whatever.
Apple’s Upgrades to CarPlay, iPad and Vision Pro Outshine Liquid Glass - Bloomberg.com
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
(Mumbles of assent)
Scientific First: Mice With Two Fathers Now Have Offspring - ScienceAlert
"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"
Whatever.
[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."
Video: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Cyberpunk 2077 Tech Review On Switch 2 - Nintendo Life
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
There you go.^†
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why do doctors refuse HRT to menopausal women but hand them out to trans people?
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:
When he's standing, in front of you
Taylor Swift Owns Two Versions of Four Albums. Now What? - Billboard
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
What do bad boys know that nice guys don't?
In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"